Krueger's Men--The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot

by: Lawrence Malkin

Published by: Little Brown

Reviewed by Jeff Foster

Since the first coins were minted, men have tried (the vast majority of the time unsuccessfully) to make themselves rich by counterfeiting the world's currencies for their own prosperity. Nations too, have used the tactic in time of war for the last two thousand years with little success.

Lawrence Malkin's historical Krueger's Men, details probably the single most successful effort of a nation or state's attempt to devalue another nation's currency in time of war.

From the earliest months of World War II, Nazi Germany plotted to counterfeit one of the history's premier and most stable currencies, the British pound. Through a series of fits and starts, Heinrich Himmler and the vaunted SS hit upon a solution that would haunt the Bank of England for half a century.

What started as an experiment--with a motive of devaluing the currency of the last-standing free country of Europe--sent tremors through the shattered economies of nearly every country in Europe.

Krueger's Men explains in startling detail how the prisoners broke down the Bank of England notes to the microscopic level and eventually produced British bank notes so perfect that many were taken as real by the bank itself!

Millions of pounds worth of forged notes were surreptitiously circulated through a variety of money launderers scattered all around the European continent. This played havoc with British currency that at the inception of hostilities traded at four pounds to the US Dollar.

By the end of the war, the exchange rate was one for one and many British citizens refused legitimate bills when tendered because of the known scheme to undermine their own currency. One has to wonder whether, given enough time, would the British economy have survived?

To understand the scope of the deception, it wasn't until a little over two years ago that the Bank Of England finally admitted that its currency had been forged during the war.

Lawrence Malkin has done extensive research as the epilog, notes, bibliography and appendixes will testify.

Krueger's Men exposes one of the greatest dark secrets of Nazi deception, the will to live of the men pressed into service at the camps, and a victor's unwillingness to admit the truth.

Armchair Interviews: An amazing true story of World War II.